SlippyReport: Pistons Draft

Thanks for the vids. Nice to put a face and some moves to these names.

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No problem.
Just to follow up on Henson:

He said he is scheduled to work out for the Pistons on June 25 -- and he added that he believes he will be pitted against Ohio State's Jared Sullinger, Baylor's Perry Jones and Kentucky's Terrence Jones for all of his workouts.

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VISITORS: Baylor forward Quincy Miller, Vanderbilt forward Jeff Taylor and Alabama power forward JaMychal Green said they had workouts planned with the Pistons. ... Missouri shooting guard Marcus Denmon, Marquette shooting guard Darius Johnson-Odom and Cal Santa Barbara's Orlando Johnson all said they have worked out for the Pistons.

John Henson is there and at 220lbs, looks a little thin.....we need a banger with better jumping skills than Max and JJ. I have seen Sullinger more than Henson so I need to see more tapes before I am sold on him..

I see a lot of GM's and coaches...but have not seen Joe or Frank...but I tuned in late and they are probably somewhere in the building and assume they were yesterday...

I see a lot of GM's and coaches...but have not seen Joe or Frank...but I tuned in late and they are probably somewhere in the building and assume they were yesterday...

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Joe makes his draft decisions based entirely on individual workouts. He's not gonna waste time going to some combine when he could simply fly the guy to Detroit to throw a leg up on the wall and run some shuttle drills.

Joe makes his draft decisions based entirely on individual workouts. He's not gonna waste time going to some combine when he could simply fly the guy to Detroit to throw a leg up on the wall and run some shuttle drills.

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So he goes on hearsay and brings in a couple of guys and does not attend the broad session to see everyone there? So that is why he only saw Darko in 2003 and never saw what potential guys like Bosh, Wade, Melo or Kaman had.....

So he goes on hearsay and brings in a couple of guys and does not attend the broad session to see everyone there? So that is why he only saw Darko in 2003 and never saw what potential guys like Bosh, Wade, Melo or Kaman had.....

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To sum up:
Fad Chord, Arnie's wall and some orange cones all combine to control Joe's draft destiny.

Goodwill's twitter feed also mentions Scott Machado (PG) will be working out for the Pistons too.

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I would expect that the current crop hovering around the nine, will have to beat out the Jones. Still, we are looking at the 3-4 positions. I still have my favorite. If JD (under sly pressure) wants his center, he will have to gain it in a trade.

Henson is very long and should be able to block some shots because of that. His problem is his Austin Daye-like weight (which has been a concern for people on here for awhile). IIRC, he came in at 215 - abysmal for a PF who is what, 21? I expect that will scare off some teams; hopefully that includes the Pistons. Shot blocking ability won't matter if you can't keep position against your man.
Leonard's range is now from 9 on down according to Fad Chord. That's solely down to how good his measurements were; legit center size. Still don't want him.
Twitter says M0ultrie is getting a "serious look" from the Pistons at 9. Goodwill also tweeted a comment from him, as follows: "Out the lottery teams, Detroit is the perfect fit." JD has a lot of options, even as low as 9, especially with some of the higher picking teams looking at wings and guards like Cleveland (Barnes) and Toronto (Lillard?) - possibly Portland (Waiters?) too.

This is from ESPN on the top 10 pick draft scenario. I didn't bother including the top 5 analysis:

If the top six players on our Big Board are off the board on draft day, I see the Warriors focusing on more established players. I put Ohio State's Jared Sullinger at No. 7 in the mock, and he could be the choice. The Warriors like him. But the more I sift through the information I'm receiving, the more I think we might see Kentucky's Terrence Jones here. Not every team is convinced he's a 3, but if the Warriors think he can play that position, I could see them pulling the trigger. There's lots of upside there if you can overlook the poor body language and inconsistency. We have Jones sliding to No. 16 in our latest mock. That's probably his floor. I think No. 7 may be his ceiling.

One other name to discuss in Golden State is Iowa State's Royce White. The Warriors love him. However, he canceled his workout with the team because of an injury. The suspicion is that he's still dealing with some anxiety issues over travel. If he can overcome that and prove to NBA teams that he can get on a plane and go anywhere on a moment's notice, my guess is he skyrockets up the draft board and could be in play as high as No. 7.

• The Raptors expect to have big man Jonas Valanciunas with the team this season. If he were in this draft, I think he would've been the No. 2 overall pick. At No. 8, look for them to add a player to their backcourt who can go out and get his own shot. They've been looking hard at Syracuse's Dion Waiters, Washington's Terrence Ross, Lamb and Lillard. The sleeper pick for them might be St. John's freshman Moe Harkless. Sources say he is in the mix at No. 8.

• I don't know what the Pistons are going to do at No. 9. If the draft goes to form, there isn't a perfect fit for what they need. We've had UNC's John Henson there the past few weeks because he's long and blocks shots, but no one's a perfect fit.

• We'll wrap up at the No. 10 spot, where all signals point toward the Hornets grabbing either Lillard, UNC's Kendall Marshall or perhaps Waiters to throw lobs Anthony Davis' way all day. Of the three, I'm hearing Lillard may be in the lead right now.

Lets face it - when you are looking for a big man at #9 he is going to be a project. Henson, Zeller, Perry all have their upsides and there is a reasonable chance that any of them will be good or a bust. Henson seems to be the most interesting since he already has many of the skills you are looking for ( at both ends of the floor ) but just needs to bulk up some.

What's so hard about bulking up? You just eat more and start hitting the weights heavy. Henson is not Austin Daye. Just because Daye fell short does not mean that he will.

We may not get much out of Henson in his rookie year but thats ok as the whole team is kind of a project and he can grow with the team.

Lets face it - when you are looking for a big man at #9 he is going to be a project. Henson, Zeller, Perry all have their upsides and there is a reasonable chance that any of them will be good or a bust. Henson seems to be the most interesting since he already has many of the skills you are looking for ( at both ends of the floor ) but just needs to bulk up some.

What's so hard about bulking up? You just eat more and start hitting the weights heavy. Henson is not Austin Daye. Just because Daye fell short does not mean that he will.

We may not get much out of Henson in his rookie year but thats ok as the whole team is kind of a project and he can grow with the team.

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I agree, most will be projects. Except for Zeller, it would be nice to have flexibility at the next 3/4 position. Let us remember, the Pistons are far down on the list concerning team offensive. Teams push and double on Monroe... then the front core struggles.

Henson is a legit 6-10 who weighs in at 216 and has 8.6 body fat. Not known as an offensive player and nearly as good as BenW in free throw percentage (51%). The latter worries me.

Terrence Jones is one inch shorter than Henson. He weighs in at 252 and has 7.7 body fat. He has a very respectable wing span of 7.25" which is slightly less than Henson's 7.5" One year older than his teammate ADavis, he could easily outperform him since his weight will not hurt him inside like the grey whale that Davis (weight 221) might become. TJones is athletic and this gives the Pistons flexibility. He was coached hard by Calipari which means he had to accept a lesser ego, which he did with no complaints. Frank can use this type of talent. Generally, in most drafts, you have last minute GM's suddenly skating like so many hogs on ice. TJones will climb and perhaps (surreptitiously) lower than the Piston's nine. There may be some slippery ice working in JD's favor, which has been the case in the last two drafts. Let us hope this continues.